In the middle of nowhere...

Look carefully, but tucked away in this photo is a railway station and two Megabus coaches! Dwarfed by the immense cooling towers of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire, is East Midlands Parkway station, a remote, desolate spot on the East Midlands Trains franchise. One of the newer stations in the realm, it opened in January 2009, and lies very close to the borders of Leicestershire and Derbyshire (by all accounts), at SK4972829658.

A little plea...

Please, please, PLEASE - if you are checking in here after seeing I have moved from Facebook, then hell-oooo!

But, if you have viewed me on FB and messaged me there, I will NOT reply, as I no longer check my old Facebook page (can't log in anyway, forgot the password!), so if you feel the need to message me, please ONLY do so via my Flickr or, if you know it / want to talk privately, via my email (which can be found on my Flickr anyway...).

Thank you.

An abandoned road...

Yes, it's not just railways and buildings that get abandoned, roads too, such as this stretch of the A30 in Cornwall.

There's an abandoned dual carriageway at Yate, near Bristol, which has starred in TV and film, plus features in the current 'QuickQuid' advert (the one with the motorist). All good fun, eh.

In fact, if man were to go off the planet tonight, it wouldn't take long for the whole world to become abandoned. Check out the fascinating article in The Times, 12.10.2006, page 33 (available on local library websites).

Nottingham revisit

Took a trip to Nottingham recently and, with the permission of the owners, spent an enjoyable hour inside the city's disused Sneinton tunnel, in use since the early 1960s as a firing range. The bulk of the tunnel survives in its original state, with only the first few metres having been converted into a two-storey affair – complete with spiral staircase! The tunnel was part of the Nottingham Suburban Railway that was in use from 1889 to 1951. This is the only surviving tunnel on the route, as the other four are now buried.

Massive thanks and respect to the guys from the shooting club who invited me to visit – a great experience.

A blast from the past...

To kind of celebrate my planned trip to Nottingham tomorrow, I just thought I'd share this shot of Mansfield Road tunnel in the city from one of my last trips. One of the longer disused bores in the UK (37th), Mansfield Road weighs in at 1189 yards (1087 metres), and was in use on the Great Central from 1898 to 1968. At its south portal, the station opened out into the long-gone Victoria Station in a very deep cutting (extant, though now housing an NCP!). The tunnel gently slopes and curves, and it's northern portal is buried, though accessible via a hatch.

New torch test

Greetings...

Recently bought a new torch (off Amazon, came from China!), purporting to be 4000 lumens. Hmm...

Attached is a test photo from a flooded tunnel in Gloucestershire - not good!!

Granted, it was taken right in the portal mouth, and the humidity in the tunnel was high, plus it was on my older camera with a shorter exposure, but it just looks shyte! Sorry, but it does. I spent the princely sum of £10.99 (ahem!) and the torch is crud! Yeah, alright, you get what you pay for...

Granted, with a longer shutter on the other camera & a darker tunnel it might look better, but ... It looks rather blue too. (The white lump is where the roof's caved in!).

The same Stockport tunnel

Just thought I'd share this photo of the other (east) end of Tiviot Dale tunnel in Stockport, found at SJ8950090828. Beyond the concrete fence (apologies for the rude word!), lies the busy M60. The portal lies a few metres inside this new concrete bridge. The tunnel has been infilled to within a few feet of the crown but, as this photo does NOT suggest, it can be easily accessed, apparently!